NEW YORK, April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On this week’s American Idol “Idol Gives Back” episode, more than 20 million Americans tuned in to help raise almost $45 million for causes around the world. Malaria was one of them, and donations toward the cause are expected to climb in the days leading up to World Malaria Day on April 25.

Beginning today to honor World Malaria Day on Sunday, Malaria No More, the Case Foundation and Twitter are launching “End Malaria,” an effort geared to activate tweets from all over the world to help end malaria deaths in Africa. Mosquito nets save lives, and now, so do tweets.

Every thirty seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa. However, malaria is a completely preventable and treatable disease.

Retweet this message from @MalariaNoMore to make a $10 donation: RT: Malaria kills a child every 30 secs. Nets #endmalaria. So do RTs. RT2Give $10 http://rt2give.com/t/425

If you already have an account on RT2Give, you’ll receive a direct message asking for confirmation. If you don’t have an account, Twitpay will send you an @reply message with simple instructions on how to enroll.

Text ‘NET’ to 85944 to make a $10 donation to Malaria No More

A $10 donation will be charged to your mobile phone bill. Messaging and data rates may apply.

Add hashtag(s) #endmalaria, #malaria, #malariaday and/or #worldmalariaday to your tweets and the hashtags will trigger the addition of clickable mosquito icons to the tweet that will take you to Hope140.org/EndMalaria

To further promote positive change through Twitter, the Case Foundation is matching each $10 donation up to $25,000made through Twitpay’s RT2Give service and text-to-give, giving Twitterers and texters the power to double their efforts to end malaria deaths in Africa.

“Through a donation platform that enables people to move from activism to action, the End Malaria campaign takes a transformative next step in leveraging the power of Twitter to raise both awareness and important funding,” said Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation. “Malaria No More and Twitter have already proven the power of social media to ignite awareness, and the Case Foundation is honored to be a part of this important initiative.”

The “End Malaria” effort is an extension of last year’s World Malaria Day Twitter challenge between Ashton Kutcher and CNN for a race to 1 million followers. Kutcher’s pledge of $100,000 to Malaria No More catapulted him to success and helped provide Senegal with 89,724 life-saving mosquito nets.

“Malaria has finally met its match in this partnership between Malaria No More, the Case Foundation and Twitter,” said Scott Case, CEO of Malaria No More. “We know for a fact that tweets can translate into nets, and two villages in Senegal are living proof of that.”

This is the second time Twitter has tweaked its tweets for a cause. The first time was to honor World AIDS Day last December by turning tweets red for the RED campaign, which became the most retweeted initiative at the time.

“The difference between life and death can come down to a $10 bed net,” said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. “The simple act of tweeting both donates to and promotes the important work of Malaria No More. By matching these donations, the Case Foundation transforms our tweets into a powerful force for good.”

Malaria No More is determined to end malaria deaths in Africa – and we’re helping the world get it done. Malaria No More leverages high-impact communications to engage the world, global advocacy to rally leadership and strategic investments to accelerate progress. For more information, visit www.MalariaNoMore.org, read our Buzzwords blog, fan our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

About Case Foundation

The Case Foundation, created by Steve and Jean Case in 1997, invests in people and ideas that can change the world. The Foundation champions initiatives that connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action. For more information, visit www.CaseFoundation.org.

*** Now You Can Tweet To Save a Life***

NEW YORK, April 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On this week’s American Idol “Idol Gives Back” episode, more than 20 million Americans tuned in to help raise almost $45 million for causes around the world. Malaria was one of them, and donations toward the cause are expected to climb in the days leading up to World Malaria Day on April 25.

Beginning today to honor World Malaria Day on Sunday, Malaria No More, the Case Foundation and Twitter are launching “End Malaria,” an effort geared to activate tweets from all over the world to help end malaria deaths in Africa. Mosquito nets save lives, and now, so do tweets.

Every thirty seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa. However, malaria is a completely preventable and treatable disease.

Retweet this message from @MalariaNoMore to make a $10 donation: RT: Malaria kills a child every 30 secs. Nets #endmalaria. So do RTs. RT2Give $10 http://rt2give.com/t/425

If you already have an account on RT2Give, you’ll receive a direct message asking for confirmation. If you don’t have an account, Twitpay will send you an @reply message with simple instructions on how to enroll.

Text ‘NET’ to 85944 to make a $10 donation to Malaria No More

A $10 donation will be charged to your mobile phone bill. Messaging and data rates may apply.

Add hashtag(s) #endmalaria, #malaria, #malariaday and/or #worldmalariaday to your tweets and the hashtags will trigger the addition of clickable mosquito icons to the tweet that will take you to Hope140.org/EndMalaria

To further promote positive change through Twitter, the Case Foundation is matching each $10 donation up to $25,000made through Twitpay’s RT2Give service and text-to-give, giving Twitterers and texters the power to double their efforts to end malaria deaths in Africa.

“Through a donation platform that enables people to move from activism to action, the End Malaria campaign takes a transformative next step in leveraging the power of Twitter to raise both awareness and important funding,” said Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation. “Malaria No More and Twitter have already proven the power of social media to ignite awareness, and the Case Foundation is honored to be a part of this important initiative.”

The “End Malaria” effort is an extension of last year’s World Malaria Day Twitter challenge between Ashton Kutcher and CNN for a race to 1 million followers. Kutcher’s pledge of $100,000 to Malaria No More catapulted him to success and helped provide Senegal with 89,724 life-saving mosquito nets.

“Malaria has finally met its match in this partnership between Malaria No More, the Case Foundation and Twitter,” said Scott Case, CEO of Malaria No More. “We know for a fact that tweets can translate into nets, and two villages in Senegal are living proof of that.”

This is the second time Twitter has tweaked its tweets for a cause. The first time was to honor World AIDS Day last December by turning tweets red for the RED campaign, which became the most retweeted initiative at the time.

“The difference between life and death can come down to a $10 bed net,” said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. “The simple act of tweeting both donates to and promotes the important work of Malaria No More. By matching these donations, the Case Foundation transforms our tweets into a powerful force for good.”

Malaria No More is determined to end malaria deaths in Africa – and we’re helping the world get it done. Malaria No More leverages high-impact communications to engage the world, global advocacy to rally leadership and strategic investments to accelerate progress. For more information, visit www.MalariaNoMore.org, read our Buzzwords blog, fan our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

About Case Foundation

The Case Foundation, created by Steve and Jean Case in 1997, invests in people and ideas that can change the world. The Foundation champions initiatives that connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action. For more information, visit www.CaseFoundation.org.

Youtube turns 5!

On Friday, YouTube celebrates the fifth anniversary of its first video posting, a modest tourism clip that would launch an Internet revolution. In that almost shockingly short time, the video site has become a verb, a logo used to help sell Casio cameras and the dominant player in its field several times over. It is almost everybody’s first resource for online video, the place we look for that clip we heard about and the place we, too often, lose ourselves in a chain of video distraction.

Because it is on the Internet and therefore infinitely measurable, it has also generated statistics galore. Here is an anniversary look at YouTube by (some of) the numbers:

sajohnson@tribune.com

19 In seconds, the length of the first video uploaded to YouTube, of co-founder Jawed Karim at San Diego Zoo.

Feb. 14, 2005 The date YouTube registered its domain name.

April 23, 2005 The date the first video was uploaded to YouTube.

1.96 million The number of times the first video has been played, as of midweek.

185.39 million The number of times the most popular video on YouTube, Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” has been played.

252 In seconds, the average length of a YouTube video, according to Sysomos, a Toronto firm that analyzes social media.

24 Hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute, a milestone reached in March 2009.1 billion Views per day, the almost ridiculously high popularity threshold the site says it reached in October 2009.

3.15 The factor by which YouTube’s number of unique monthly viewers (96.1 million) exceeds that of Yahoo (30.5 million), the second-place U.S. online video site in that category, according to Nielsen.

6.6 The factor by which YouTube’s number of monthly video streams served (4.67 billion) exceeds that of Hulu(707.5 million), the second-place site in that category, according to Nielsen.

$1.65 billion In dollars worth of stock, the amount Google paid to acquire YouTube in November 2006.

51 The number of languages into which Google’s automatic speech recognition technology can translate YouTube videos and create captions.

5 The maximum number of stars available in YouTube’s old on-site ratings system, replaced in the March redesign by a simpler “likes/dislikes” model.

1 Out of 100, the number of YouTube comments that actually have something interesting to say (this author’s estimate).

2 The number of “highest rated” comments YouTube lists immediately under videos, its recent attempt to fight its bad-comment problem.

68 Estimate of the number of parodies of the Hitler in the bunker scene from the film “Downfall” posted on YouTube and other sites, according to the Guardian.

April 2, 2010 The date news broke that YouTube was removing the “Downfall” parodies because of copyright concerns.

2.14 million The number of subscribers to NigaHiga’s channel of Asian-themed comedy videos, the most subscribed to on YouTube.

$30,000 The amount the video “David After Dentist,” of an incoherent little kid in the back seat of a car, has earned for its uploader through an ad revenue sharing program, according to YouTube.

60 The number of matches of the Indian Premier League cricket season YouTube will have streamed after it shows the final match live April 25, its biggest foray into free sports streaming.

31 The percent of YouTube videos embedded by bloggers that are music videos, according to a study by Sysomos.

14,600 The number of videos that comes up when you search for “kittens” on YouTube.

3,820 The number that comes up when you search for “trampoline accidents.”

Not only has Web 2.0 added additional layers of communication to the practice of public relations, but it seems that social media has introduced communicators to a new set of ethical challenges. In fact, this led to a series on pr-squared. During this week’s PR 2.0 Chat, we took an in-depth look at some potentially sticky situations.

Spend a few minutes thinking about these questions. What’s your thoughts?

Is ghostblogging ok or unethical?

What about ghost-tweeting? Fair game or unethical?

Do PR pros need to disclose when tweeting about client? If so, how?

Is it ever ok to delete a comment on a blog, FB page, etc? Why or why not?

Have you ever read the PRSA Code of Ethics? Do we need a SM Code?

Your boss asks you to withhold (or add) details in a press release — significantly altering the story. How do you respond?

A reporter calls looking for sensitive info. Is it acceptable or unethical to wait until his/her deadline passes to call back?

Your client is exaggerating claims about a new product’s benefits. What do you do?

Client accidentally misrepresents the facts during interview. What do you do? What if it’s a live interview?

How do you handle a Facebook fan w/ very strong opinions that disrupt the conversation? Is it OK to block that person?

“A Social Media News Release is a press release format designed for the online media world. The press release was written with just the “press” in mind, but in the online world your story needs to be told in a format that is relevant to a wide variety of people – journalists, bloggers, publishers and the public at large.”Realwire

According to Wikipedia, “Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other.”

There are many different categories of Social Media, such as:

Blogger: A Blog-publishing system created by Pyra Labs, which was purchased by Google in 2003.

Facebook: A social networking site launched in 2004; it has the highest number of users among college-foucsed sites

twitter: A social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send “updates” (text based posts, up to 140 characters long) via instant messaging or e-mail to the Twitter website

Digg: A community-based popularity website with an emphasis on technology and science articles. It combines social bookmarking, blogging and syndication with a form of nonhierarchical, democratic editorial content.

Second Life: An Internet-based virtual world that enables users to Interact with each other through avatars.

If you belong to 5 or more you are active in the social media network! Throughout my Public Relations Writing class I have learned about many of the different social networks, and I’ve joined most of them. However, I am anxious to try out the others that I have yet to use! Are there any favorites of yours that I did not list? If so, please let me know because I would love to try out new sites!

When considering writing a SMNR you need to think about the content.

Realwire stated that “the content of the SMNR can either be produced in the “traditional” narrative style or be deconstructed so that the core facts, quotes, contact details and boilerplate are all individually segregated to allow users to disseminate its various elements. It can be company branded and can accommodate images, audio and video (including embedded social media video including YouTube) as well as links to relevant websites and coverage of resulting online conversations.”

If you would like to download a template online to help you write a SMNR, there are a few great sites I have found!

I must add, as I was searching I saw my teacher Barbara Nixon had commented on one of the templates! I guess that means it is a good one! 🙂

An example of a Social Media News Release:

The Ford Focus brings an expressive look, a refined and flexible interior and a higher level of driving enjoyment to an evolving small car market. With features including Ford SYNC™, standard side-curtain air bags and fuel economy in the mid-30s, the redesigned Focus will play an important role in Ford Motor Company’s resurging car portfolio, continuing the momentum built by the successful Ford Fusion mid-size sedan.

Fun to drive. A redesigned and retuned suspension for improved ride and handling, and a more powerful engine that delivers fuel economy in the mid-30s.

“In essence, a well written and produced social media press release will make it easier for a journalist to write the story they are tasked with and in a format that is increasingly popular with end consumers.”

According to the book., a Social Media News Release uses major electronic distribution services to embed a news release with high-resolution photos/graphics, video, and audio compnents. These can be expressed through different social media sites.

When should a PR practitioner use a SMNR rather than a “regular” news release?

PR practitioners should use an SMNR when they want to convey their message to the online community. The major advantage they point out is that using an SMNR allows for two way communication between the PR practitioner and the target audience.